The Lowdown | Curtis Kulig

There is not a place on earth that Curtis Kulig doesn’t have friends. In the darkest little dive bars in Tokyo, there is evidence that he has been there. In alleyways in Los Angeles that no one ventures down and high up above the rooftops in New York, his mark winks at you familiarly — his mark being the omnipresent two word cursive tag “Love Me” that litters metropolitan downtowns the world over in spray paint and endless stickers. A photographer turned graffiti artist, Kulig is SoHo’s most unexpected nice guy. Known as equally for his sweet demeanor as for his public cry for affection (which he’s had to tone down lately), Kulig has successfully gone legit with commercial commissions like billboards for the makeup brand Bobbi Brown. This month, Kulig is trying his hand at fine art, with the opening of his first two-man show in New York, with the Los Angeles graffiti artist Skullphone.

Q.

Where have you been recently?

A.

All over! So much traveling! I’ve been back and forth to the West Coast monthly due to several ongoing graphic projects with a record label in Los Angeles and Nike in Portland, along with some quick trips to Vegas for an installation at the new Cosmopolitan Hotel, Miami for Basel plans and Italy and Mexico for on-site installations. It’s always a relief to return to New York, where I can regroup and plan for the next project, enjoy the studio, friends and eat at my favorite spots.

What are you working on right now?

I have been busy painting new work for “Scripture,” my new exhibition with the Los Angeles artist Skullphone. I finally finished the canvases this week! I was planning on having the work stretched and photographed weeks ago, but as usual a curveball was thrown at me — I had to move studios! Luckily I quickly found a large raw space in SoHo. It’s never easy moving, especially when raw property requires so much work to set up shop. The first day I thought I’d be ready to get back on top of the work it became very clear that I needed to make a 30-foot drywall on top of the bricks to get started with the giant canvas.

Maripol traded me some Polaroids earlier this year, she’s always amazing! Tony Cox’s new work is great, as usual, and Alex Olson’s pieces at the NYEHAUS were fun. I always enjoy going uptown to the museums and checking things out. The last thing I went to was the Marina Abramovic exhibition at MoMA and left a little disturbed. I’ve been paying attention to Olympia Scarry lately also, her work seems intriguing. Shows at the new Salon 94 on Bowery seem to be good too, and I’ve been trying to make it out to Red Hook to see Stillhouse Group‘s new spot.

Where are you headed?

Well, I’m going to Miami tomorrow, back to New York for a Paper magazine shoot and the “Scripture” installation and opening, off to Tokyo the 9th, and then back to L.A. for more. I’m traveling every month, but I’m enjoying the work. The most important thing for me is to enjoy the people, and the places and the things I come in contact with along the way — otherwise what’s the point?